Diwali in Orchha

There was a small part of me that was hoping that going to Orchha for Diwali break would bring an opportunity to experience a true Diwali celebration. After all the last two years I've been in a desert camp and in Catholic Goa. But Orchha, Orchha is a Hindu town. So I thought that perhaps I'd get a truly local experience. At first it seemed like Diwali might be restricted to people painting their houses, adding a new layer of color to brighten up the town. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bright blue, pink and yellow houses! But I was hoping for more...of course it is hard to know what to expect when you can't even identify which day is the proper Diwali...not that I'm any closer to being able to identify that. The second day we were there, it seemed that the number of people pouring into town had doubled or tripled. Almost all of them were making their way on foot to the large temple in the middle of the town dressed in their finest clothes, many of them waving peacock feathers in their hands. That seemed a bit more like a celebration, but not quite what I was expecting, after all Diwali is known as the festival of lights. I never did see many lights, but the the electricity only seemed to run from about 7-11 pm. However, the last morning we were there, we were awoken by the sound of drums. A peak over the balcony to the riverside revealed trucks coming in with the trailer full of men (all men). As they arrived the guys climbed down and began to get dressed...get dressed up in costumes of "women" (which often just meant tight short shorts, a skirt made out of flowers or some other type of adornment - never mind that women dress quite conservatively here). From what we could figure out on the particular holiday in this particular region of the country, villagers meet up and the men dance as the women are not allowed to. Most of the dances occur along the water front to the beat of the drums. Some groups of men strike sticks as they spin and jump. Others focus more on a jumping aspect. I'm not quite sure I can tell you what the meaning of the dances are, I would assume for good luck/food/fortune but that would be pure speculation. It was a bit uncomfortable being out on the road during that time as there really weren't any woman out and about. But of course I couldn't resist a small wander to take pictures and soak up the unexpected celebration I had landed in the middle of.

Orchha

Back in October we had a long weekend (otherwise known as a travel opportunity!) that found me in the small town of Orchha over the Diwali weekend. I and a couple of friends had gone on the recommendation of a couple of people in my department, and before showing up about all I knew was that it was a fairly small town that was full of old constructions. Located about a 6 1/2 hour train ride south of Delhi it is one of the rare 15th century towns that got built around instead of torn down and repurposed. I believe we saw at least 15 16th century structures before it began to feel like they were all starting to blend together. Okay, maybe they blended together before that, but I wasn't willing to give up the freedom of walking everywhere until then. There is the large Raj Mahal (fort) sitting just in front of the Jahangir Mahal (palace?) with its elephant supports inside. Up on a hill overlooking the town is Lakshminarayan Madir, a temple that still contains some of its original hand drawn decoration. One of my favorite places was the Chaturbhuja Temple which was constructed to house a Hindu idol but was never used for its intended purpose as the idol refused to be moved and so a new temple had to be build around it. Instead we were able to climb all over this open building following a sadhu with his flashing green light up immense stairs to great views of the town. I also enjoyed the cluster of eleven cenotaphs that were a mere five minute walk from our hotel, old tombs situated on the banks of the river; I could have done without the vultures - although there is something a bit fitting about them being perched on the tops of the tombs.